Apple rolls out iOS 10.2 public beta to iPhone and iPad devices

NEW DELHI: Apple has started rolling out a new beta version of its iOS mobile operating system to iPhone and iPad devices. Bearing version number 10.2, the update introduces new emojis, wallpapers and some other features.

Anyone who is interested in testing the new features can can do so by joining the beta programme. It gives access to both upcoming iOS and macOS Sierra versions.

Apple has included several new features in the iOS 10.2 update. It comes with three new wallpapers, but they are only available for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Other features include new widgets for the video app, Preserve Camera setting and a new headphone icon in status bar. The icon appears when wired or Bluetooth headphones are connected to the iPhone.

In addition, the iOS 10.2 brings emojis based on the new Unicode 9.0 update. The new emojis are based on people, food & drinks and more. In total, around 72 new emojis are claimed to be included in the update. This includes 22 new characters under ‘Smileys and People’ section, 18 under ‘Food and Drink’ section and others in ‘Activities,’ ‘Animals’ and ‘Objects’ sections. It is worth adding that iOS 10 brought over 100 new emojis.

Furthermore, iOS 10.2 includes a new ‘Press and Hold to Speak’ menu option under Home Button accessibility settings, new ‘Celebration’ messages screen effects and new ‘Show Star Ratings’ option under Music Settings.

The public beta of iOS 10.2 comes soon after the release of iOS 10.1.1 for general users. The update fixes the Health app data deletion bug that iOS 10.1 was riddled with. Apart from resolving the Health app issue, the update consists of multiple bug fixes as detailed in the official changelog. The new update comes less than a week after Apple released iOS 10.1 for eligible iPhone and iPad devices. To get the update, users need to get to Settings > Software update section.